New Orleans mosquito-control expert shares expertise with Honduras

New Orleans officials often have been called upon since Hurricane Katrina to share their expertise about disaster planning and recovery. This week, a top City Hall administrator was invited to Honduras to lend his skills in another field in which Orleanians often claim mastery: battling mosquitoes.

View full sizeWilfredo Lee, The Associated PressThis water sample teeming with mosquito larvae was photographed July 15 in Miami Beach. The water was collected from a fountain outside a vacant house.

Michael Carroll, director of New Orleans' Mosquito, Termite and Rodent Control Board, headed to the Central American republic Thursday at the request of President Porfirio Lobo Sosa to consult on public health efforts related to an outbreak of dengue fever.

Through early this week, the disease, which is transmitted through mosquito bites, had claimed at least 21 lives, with nearly 18,000 cases reported, according to news accounts. Symptoms include high fever, severe headache, joint and muscle pain, rash and easy bruising.

"Honduras has long been a great partner with New Orleans, and we are honored to be able to provide this service to assist them in combating this epidemic," Mayor Mitch Landrieu said in a prepared statement. "Continuing to build this relationship benefits both our city as well as the citizens of Honduras."

During a visit to New Orleans in April, Sosa met with both then-Mayor Ray Nagin and Landrieu with a goal of "building closer ties between Honduras and the city of New Orleans," according to a City Hall news release. The Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa and New Orleans have a sister city partnership.

Carroll, who holds a Ph.D. in botany and entomology, has worked for the city for 33 years. He planned to return to New Orleans today.